Following Dendahl’s DWI comments, neither campaign addressing the real problem

There’s a controversy brewing over Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl’s statements last week about Hispanics and American Indians and drunken driving.

Dendahl essentially said that a disproportionate number of people with “Spanish last names” are repeat offenders. He then blamed the legislature, saying it wouldn’t enact legislation to deal with the problem because, “Gee, that would be racist.”

Dendahl made the comments Wednesday on an Albuquerque talk show.

Dave Contarino, Gov. Bill Richardson’s re-election chairman, responded by saying Dendahl “has a history of sticking his foot into his mouth by making insensitive comments and alienating whole classes of people.”

Dendahl later said his point is that the legislature needs to enact tougher DWI laws because Hispanics and American Indians have a disproportionately high number of DWIs.

According to the statistics Dendahl cited, in 2003, 54 percent of caught drunken drivers were Hispanic and 20 percent were American Indian.

Some 24 percent were Anglo.

Following Dendahl’s explanation, Contarino took another shot, according to the Albuquerque Tribune.

“All legislators, including Republicans, should be offended by Dendahl’s careless comments, which minimize their hard work on DWI laws that have moved New Mexico forward and made our streets safer,” he said.

Dendahl’s comments were flat-out wrong in one respect. The legislature and governor have enacted tougher laws against drunken driving and increased enforcement since 2003, helping cut the rate of DWI deaths on New Mexico’s roads. Dendahl’s comments appear to be careless and poorly researched.

However, they weren’t racist. Dendahl stated a fact: In this state, Hispanics and American Indians are arrested for and convicted of DWI at a rate disproportionate to their percentage of the state’s population.

Contarino didn’t dispute this, because he can’t. It’s a fact. He simply hinted that Dendahl is a racist for saying it out loud.

What neither campaign did, to the discredit of both, is address why those population groups have a disproportionate number of DWIs. They simply stated that tougher enforcement is the answer.

Tougher enforcement is necessary, but it’s only a Band-Aid.

The reasons for the disproportionate rates are complex, but have a lot to do with socioeconomic conditions such as poverty, a lack of infrastructure and poor education. Richardson can tout tougher DWI laws, and Dendahl can say we need more, but neither addressed the root of the problem in comments they chose to make last week about this topic.

In New Mexico, socioeconomic conditions are generally worse for Hispanics and American Indians than for Anglos. More Hispanics and American Indians are caught drinking and driving.

So legislators and the governor can pass tougher laws and appear in the media proclaiming that they’re cracking down, but that doesn’t address the root of the problem. Neither the Dendahl or Richardson campaigns indicated last week that they understand this.

I think the Richardson campaign does understand, but was too busy taking cheap shots and Dendahl to communicate that.

As for Dendahl: Nobody ever said he wasn’t a loose cannon.